Welcome to SUF’s 6 Week Challenge

THIS is where you start your entire transformation, losing 20 lbs in the next 6 weeks. Watch the short videos below and download the files straight to your hard-drive or smartphone to hit the ground RUNNING!

If you do not have a facebook account, simply create one separately for this program.

Step 1: Set Yourself Up For Success:

“The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” – Michelangelo

“The strangest secret in the world is that you become what you think about.” – Earl Nightingale.

This chapter has nothing to do with calories, protein, carbohydrates, fats, cardio, weights or anything else related to nutrition or training. It’s all about the one simple, but critical procedure you must complete before you lift a weight, start a nutrition program or even set foot in SUF. If you successfully complete this procedure, the nutrition and training will come easy and a lean body will soon follow. If you ignore this step – like most people do – you are destined to fail no matter what you do or how hard you try.

I’m talking about goal setting.

A lot has been said and written about goal setting – entire books have been devoted to the subject – but the truth is, most people never decide exactly what they want. (which explains why most Americans are miserable and bored out of their minds)

Some people give their goals a fleeting thought, but most people spend more time planning a party, studying the newspaper or making a Christmas list than they do planning their lives.

Truth is, only 3% of Americans have actually taken the time and effort necessary to put their goals to paper. And this is unfortunate because the number one reason for failure in losing body fat – and in life – is the lack of clearly defined, written goals. If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re probably not going to end up anywhere.

Action Without Planning Is The Number One Cause Of Failure.

The difference between knowing what to do and doing what you know.

There is a big difference between knowing what to do and doing what you know. Meaning that even if you KNOW all the right steps.. you still may not put them into action.. Goals are the bridges that span this gap.

Goals, when properly planted in the subconscious mind, produce action. Goals create energy and motivation. Goals get you out of bed early in the morning and into the gym. The secret to staying motivated all the time is to set emotionally charged goals – in writing – and to stay totally focused on those goals day and night, without taking your eyes off them.

A goal with a purpose is the fuel that propels you forward. However, you might think that you’re in total conscious control of your behaviors, but it’s really your SUB-conscious that controls your behavior.

If you know what to do, but you can’t seem to get yourself to do it, you’ve probably been giving negative or conflicting messages to your subconscious mind. The behaviors that are produced by subconscious conditioning are more commonly referred to as ‘habits’.

We all have them.

Fortunately, you can re-program your subconscious mind with positive instructions and become a creature of positive habit, just as easily as you can become a victim of negative habits. It all begins with a conscious decision and written goals.

The Power Of Thought

The most important part of getting in great shape is simply making up your mind to do so. You get in shape by setting goals and thinking about them all day long. But obviously you can’t “think yourself thin.”

However, if you don’t channel your mental energies properly, even the best diet and training program won’t help because you will always “sabotage” yourself.

Did you ever wonder why you have lapses and breakdowns in “willpower?” Or why some days you just can’t drag yourself to the gym? Or why you “fall off the wagon” completely? Or why you can’t say “no” to those chocolate chip cookies? It’s because negative programming in your subconscious mind is controlling your behavior.

Setting goals is the remedy, because they harness the awesome power of your subconscious mind, and your subconscious mind guides your behavior.

How Your Brain Works

Your mind has two components: The conscious and the subconscious. The conscious mind is the rational, logical, analytical, thinking part of the mind. It’s like the captain of a ship. The captain gives a command and sends it down to the engine room.

The subconscious is the part of the mind responsible for storing data (memory), for automatic behavior (habits), reflexes and stuff like digestion, breathing and circulation.

Unlike the conscious mind, the subconscious mind does not “think.” The subconscious mind is like the men down in the engine room. No matter what orders come down from the captain, the crew obeys, even if the orders are stupid ones that crash the ship into a rocky shore.

The reason this happens is because the crew (the subconscious) can’t see where the ship is going; they are simply following orders. Like the ship’s crew, your subconscious mind accepts every command your conscious mind gives it – its sole purpose is to obey and carry out your orders, even if you give stupid ones like “I’ll never see my abs.”

Frequent repetition of thoughts (mental orders) is one of the most certain ways to penetrate the subconscious mind. This is why, by repeating “I can’t lose weight” over and over, your subconscious will see to it that you never lose weight because that’s its job – to follow your every command literally and without question. If you program your subconscious with negative suggestions often enough, your subconscious will lead you right into cheating on your diet, skipping workouts or some other form of self-sabotage.

The Power Of Focus

Because of the way your subconscious works, it’s extremely important for you to focus all your thoughts on what you want to achieve, not on what you want to avoid.

If I ask you to close your eyes and not to think about monkeys, you’ll (mentally) see monkeys everywhere. You can’t NOT think about something! You either think about something or you don’t. And you always move toward what you think about the most, regardless of whether it’s positive or negative.

Like the soil, your subconscious mind is totally impartial – it doesn’t discriminate.

In it will grow whatever seeds you plant there or allow to be planted there. The more you dwell on what you don’t want, the more of it you create. Or if you pay no attention to your thoughts whatsoever, like a garden that’s neglected, soon enough, weeds start growing. Eventually, the weeds take over your garden.

Here are a few examples of negative statements and self-defeating questions:

I can’t lose weight no matter what I do.

Why can’t I lose this last ten pounds?

Why is it so hard for me to lose weight?

I have a slow metabolism.

Why can everyone else lose weight except me? It’s not fair.

It’s not my fault because I don’t have good genetics.

I don’t want to be fat anymore.

I wish I could get rid of this gut.

It’ll never work because I like food too much.

I don’t have the willpower to get lean.

I would work out but I don’t have time.

I just can’t get myself up that early to work out.

I hate being fat.

I’ll never see my abs.

I hate cardio.

I can’t.

I’ll try.

The scary fact is that we think up to 60,000 thoughts a day and that 98% of these thoughts are the same ones we had yesterday – most of them negative. In a year, that’s almost 22 million thoughts. Imagine the impact that millions of your own thought commands have on influencing your subconscious mind – it’s staggering! That’s why it’s so important for you to take conscious control over your mental dialogue and program your brain with positive goals.

Fortunately, the one thing in life you always have 100% total control over is your thoughts. If you want to be successful in losing body fat or any other endeavor in life, you must master your communication with yourself. You must take charge of your selftalk, “police” your thinking, and literally re-program your brain for success.

If you’ve cluttered your mind with a lifetime of negativity, this may be challenging at first. It will take time to erase the old programming, but it can be done.

The first step is simply to become conscious of what you are thinking. Become aware of your thoughts. If you catch yourself in the middle of a negative thought or self-defeating question, then immediately replace it with a positive thought, affirmation, or an empowering question. Simply overwrite the old thought with a new one.

Here are some examples of how you could change the negative self-talk to positive self-talk:

How can I lose fat and enjoy the process?

What can I do today that will help me get closer to my weight loss goal?

What can I eat right now at this meal that will help me lose body fat?

How great am I going to feel after I finish my workout today?

My metabolism is getting faster every day.

I am getting leaner every day.

I like the way I look.

I am 100% responsible for my results.

Whatever it takes, I’ll do it.

I like eating healthy foods.

I love working out.

Training early in the morning is exhilarating.

I have time for anything I am committed to.

I like myself.

I can do it.

I will do it.

When you start doing this, any goal you set will be attainable. As long as that goal is:

- measurable – specific – big – emotional – non-conflicting

Remember that there are no unrealistic goals, only unrealistic deadlines. So right now, set down this book and write down exactly what you want to accomplish 6 weeks from today.

Then when you have your goals in writing, read them out loud twice a day, read them with faith, and most importantly -> mentally visualize them as ‘already achieved’. See yourself in your mind where you want to be and you’ll get there.

Step 2: Here's The Nutrition Presentation
(In case you want to go over it again)

Let's get real.. For real results, you need muscle.. And to build muscle, you need to damage it during your workout, so that it can 'regrow' afterwards. During this 'regrow' after your workout.. it's the intention to have your muscle grow back stronger and bigger. That's one of the main purposes of working out, aside from burning calories DURING your workout you're tearing it down. When you eat & sleep you rebuild.

But you will only 'regrow' and rebuild your muscle if you:

-> Take a proper protein shake within 5 minutes from finishing your workout

-> Push heavy weight in the first place (with proper form)

-> Have a complete meal within 60 min after finishing your workout

-> Drink at least half a gallon water (aim for a gallon and fail forward)

-> Get at least 7 hours sleep.

-> Reduce stress to a minimum. Have a 7 month emergency fund set up. And cut out all vampires from your life. Especially if they get drunk 2+ times per month.

Do this and you'll gain muscle. When you gain muscle, your metabolism goes up throughout the day, this way your Calories OUT goes up 24/7. Even when you're not training. This is why Long-distance cardio is the worst thing you can do.

Take Marathons for instance, running long-distance breaks muscle down like no other. Yeah you'll burn calories, but you'll lose more muscle than fat
Marathons get you 'skinny fat'... Weights get you sexy.

Dwayne Johnson Doesn't Run Marathons. He Lifts Weights. and eats meat. And in case you haven't heard -> skinny is extinct. Come 2013 it's about c-shapes, strength, and legs that have 'content'. I'm talking Jessice Biel. girls that have strength for days and legs for weeks.

So you break down muscle while you workout. That's why every workout should be 45 min max – any longer and your body releases a stress-hormone called cortisol..

Muscle, muscle, muscle, muscle, muscle.. muscle

To the ladies: I want you to read that sentence as many times you need to believe it. Muscle is good, it makes you lean, not bulky. Excess bodyfat makes you bulky. And excess calories give you excess bodyfat. Therefore, CALORIES make you bulky.

Nutrition101 states -> Calories IN vs Calories OUT

If you have meatball marinara's for lunch, you're giving yourself too little 'wiggle room' for all other meals you should be eating throughout the day.. and you're very likely to overeat throughout the day. 'Overeating' means your Calories IN exceeds your Calories OUT.

With all this said, Anyone can lose 30 lbs by reducing their calories IN.. no matter how you train. Your exercise serves to increase your Calories OUT.
that's why weight loss is not an indication of a good workout. A good workout gives you definition, strength, energy, and a royal butt. I'm writing this because I'd hate to see you waste time.

The #1 thing that separates the successful from the mediocre is how they manage their time..Everyone has the same 24 hours in the day. Warren Buffet has 24 hours. Jay Leno has 24 hours. even Kanye has 24 hours. What puts you ahead or holds you back, is how you spend your time. Now if you look at the Zumba workout versus a Real workout.. Zumba being aerobics, versus resistance training, explosive movements, resisted/uphill running, plyometrics, anaerobics, and INTENSE cardio. Then you're better off spending time doing a real workout.

Zumba is like Spanks. It feels good at first, but in the end you're just as flabby. Real workouts make you stronger through resistance. Zumba has none. Zumba is aerobics. And "trying to lose fat with aerobics is like emptying the ocean one shot glass at a time"

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate Zumba for their place on the fitness ladder. Zumba is an awesome way of 'getting started' for girls that:

have not worked out in 12+ years

have serious medical issues

"Something" is always better than "nothing". And true success is not for everyone. And one of the worst phenomena in the world is when fit people make fun of the unfit for 'trying'. It just hurts to me to see these unfit people 'trying' and truly believing they are going to see real results. It just won't happen with aerobics. Richard Simmons never had a 6-pack.

Anyone wanting to improve their body is a bodybuilder. And bodybuilders lift weights till the day they die. So as a group, let's start being bodybuilders. Or Warriors. In the good sense of the word. Not meatheads, but renegades that keep their eyes on the prize and live, eat, and breathe ripped physiques that can do things.

You can do it – I believe in you, and if there's anything you need let me know

One of the fastest ways to burn out and lose muscle is to workout too much. 45 minutes to an hour is the max time anyone should ever workout. Any activity longer than that leaves you weak and scrawny. Like Marathon runners.

It's not common, but at SUF I'm seeing some people do 2 workouts in a row, and that's bad news (I don't blame them, in fact I appreciate their effort, but it's counter- productive) See here's the deal..

Your body wants one thing, to survive

when you don't eat, your body will store fat to survive

when you lift weight, your body will grow muscle to do it better next time (aka to survive)

when you workout longer than 60 minutes, your body releases the stress-hormone called cortisol. And cortisol pretty much eats muscle

Some people have told me their 'second SUF workout in a row' feels easier.. yes, it does. Because your body is using muscle for fuel. I see it time after time after time, guys that workout 3 hours a day ending up weak, tired, and flabby

More is not always better. Remember the golden rule, 'Intensity Equals Results'. Getting a lot of volume in over a short period of time is more intense than over a longer period. In other words, doing 50 pushups in 30 seconds is more intense than 50 pushups in 5 minutes. When you raise intensity, you're raising your peak performance – do this and your body will 'respond' by growing muscle and burning fat.

Also, remember the second golden rule, that muscle is built outside of the gym. When you workout, you tear muscle down. When you eat, sleep, eat, you build muscle back up. So the more intense you can keep your workouts (45 min being perfect), the more time you have to recover and build muscle (and to all you girls who just started Working Out -> muscle is good). 'Other activities' outside of your intense workouts are cool, but lighter stuff, like hikes, surfing, bike rides, etc

So take this advice, and workout EXTREMELY HARD when you workout. I mean, ex-tremely hard. Make your workouts intense like Patrick Swayze on the dancefloor.

"Does protein powder make me bulky?" I still get this question a dozen times per week, and the answer is.. No.

Calories make you bulky. And calories are in food. So too much FOOD will make you bulky. And that can be any food. Protein powder just has a bad rep because of the fat meatheads that think chest & shoulders are the most important muscles of the body..

Rule #1 of nutrition is Calories IN vs Calories OUT.

Calories IN is your food, so if you eat too much food, you will get too many calories. Those extra calories.. they make you bulky. That's it. Protein powder is just a food. Like carrots, chicken, pasta, eggs, etc, etc. And you need protein powder to restore muscle. I recommend taking 25 grams Whey protein in the morning with your oatmeal.

Anything can make you bulky if you eat too much of it. So unless you want to get bulky, then don't eat too much food. And if you want to get lean and look good naked, you BETTER be taking protein powder.

"But my friend told me that she took it one time and she got all bulky in her arms" ...that means she ate too much

"But what about those guys in the freeweight area at the gym? They all take protein powder" ...yeah, 95% of them have no clue what they're doing. They work on 'beach muscles' only.. (chest, shoulders, triceps).. and they do zero cardio. That's why most of them are just fat.

So skip the advice from your friends on protein powder. Odds are they heard it from somebody that's out of shape themselves.

Just Keep it simple. You really only need protein powder once a day, and that's in the morning. After your workout you need a protein powder that's mixed with sugar (which is the Prograde Workout drink at SUF). And if you want to kill your workout, take some pre-workout energy powder before starting your workout

Lastly, if you're trying to lose weight, take Amino Acids to maintain your muscle while on a calorie deficit. You can take this during your workout or throughout the day.. And of course, as always, real food over anything.

The difference between a 'bulky' look and a 'Jessica Biel' look is whether you're eating above or below your caloric maintenance level. Very often I see people get confused with all the diets, workouts, supplements that are thrown their way. Now more than ever many of us are on 'information overload'. And this is causing people to associate 'this workout with these results', and 'this food with those results'.

The best thing you can do when trying to lose fat is to keep it simple – and not get distracted. Keep your 'shiny object syndrome' in check and stay on track – because it's really not as hard as you may think..Here's the deal -> Your body has 4 things going on.

It has bones

Organs

Muscle

Fat

You can't really change your bones & organs – what you CAN do is..

Make your fat cells bigger

Make fat cells smaller

Grow muscle

Lose muscle

That's it.

The ideal combination is 2 and 3, to Lose Fat and Gain Muscle. Do that and you'll be sexier than ever. Guys and girls will whistle at you, regardless of whether you're a guy or girl. The most important factor for fat loss is your nutrition.In order to lose bodyfat, you should be on a slight caloric deficit.So calculate how many calories your metabolism is on http://www.StraightUpMealPlans.com and subtract 300 – 500. Do this and you will NEVER get bulky. Unless you sleepwalk and eat without knowing it, but that's a whole other problem.

Aside from all this.. aside from proper nutrition – the very next best things for fat loss are hill sprints and sled work. THIS is where most people mess up when trying to lose fat. They assume that 'jogging' or 'running' is good for them and that running will burn the fat. Nothing could be more WRONG!

If your goal is to get definition and SERIOUSLY look good in a bathing suit, you have to eliminate the jogging and replace it with hill sprints and sled work. Sprints will build up the hamstrings and glutes tremendously. Sprints are also one of the best forms of abdominal training you could do. You ever see the glutes and abs on a sprinter? Google them and see what they look like.. then ask yourself which body type YOU prefer? Jogging is not only time-consuming, it also increases cortisol.. which in turn increases belly fat.. wears down your joints.. reduces your strength.. makes you lose muscle.. lowers testosterone.. and most importantly, runners will never have a truly amazing butt.

You know, one of those 'from another planet' butts. Sprinters have them. People that lift weights have them. Runners don't. And it's all because weight training & sprints, hill sprints, and sled work builds muscle while burning fat. You can't say that about running a marathon.

Now many people are confused about this, and honestly, I don't blame them. Somewhere along the way 'running' became popular, and it didn't take long before Nike jumped on the bandwagon and started promoting 'running' as the cool thing to do. Unless you get intense joy out of finishing a marathon, running will only set you back when it comes to your physique. Yes it increases your endurance, but it has nowhere near as much impact as hill sprints. And yes, “some exercise is better than no exercise”, but that's Zumba talk.

If for every dollar spent on stock A you get $100 back, and every dollar spent on stock B would give you a million dollars.. you'd go for stock B right? Hill sprints & sled work is stock B. Stock A is stuff like jogging, stairmasters, and (worst of all) elliptical machines.. No self respecting man should ever be spotted on an elliptical machine. It's a waste of time. Elliptical Machines have momentum. Momentum is only good when you're playing golf or making love. It's not good for challenging your body and burning the max amount of calories in minimum time.

One of my favorite quotes is: “If you want to be successful, look at what everyone else is doing and do the complete opposite.” ..The same goes for your cardio.

Now you keep hearing me say 'hill' sprints and there's a good reason why.. Hill sprints place your body in a safer position than flat ground sprints because of the angle, so there is far less impact. Also, hill sprints and sled work slows you down and is for that reason very safe. The risk of pulling a hamstring or popping an achilles or something in your knee is greatly reduced.

Remember, that sprinting for fat loss is different than sprinting for speed. The latter requires specific timing, longer rest periods, etc. But to drop body fat and just bring up your conditioning without compromising your strength gains, you don't have to get too tedious about this. Just do the damn sprints. That's all that matters =) Don't wait till tomorrow. Get outside and start sprinting today. You will be at a pool party or on the beach before you know it. And you will regret what you didn't do.

By the way, before you go out and do this, here are some pointers:

Starting from the top down, the face must be relaxed. Do not clench your jaw or make any crazy faces. Relax.

Keep the chest up and shoulders back and down.

No side to side rotation of the pelvis, torso, shoulder girdle is allowed.

Hips remain forward toward the finish line at all times.

Arms should be bent ninety degrees with the hands open (no clenched fists or flailing, limp wrists).

When you are running the arms must pump vigorously, forward and backward. NEVER LET THE ARMS CROSS THE MIDLINE OF THE BODY. Only forward and backward.

Think of pulling yourself through the air by driving your arms back as fast and hard as you can. The hands come up to a level even with the face and they come down and cross your pocket on the way back (but no further; don't have them swinging way behind you).

Drive the knees high and be sure that the foot strikes directly under your body; not out in front of you (although, on a hill this may be slightly different depending on the incline).

Only the front portion of the foot should strike the ground; the heel should never make contact.

When the ball of the foot makes contact with the ground think of yourself as an animal pawing at the ground and rapidly pulling it behind you.

There's a saying that goes “running takes place on the ground, sprinting takes place above it”. If you do it right you should feel minimal impact or stress and should feel like you are flying effortlessly.

TO THIS DAY... there are still people walking this earth that believe you can burn fat in specific parts of your body.

If you're one of them, looking to spot reduce fat, I want to tell you that it doesn't exist.We all have 'problem areas', and what a wonderful world it
would be if we could lipozap them away.

But we can't. We have to work hard, eat clean, and force our body to burn fat over our whole body. That's how it works.

It sounds boring, and it's hard work, but that's why only 20% of all Americans look good naked. So if you decide to just put in hard work, you can technically walk around naked and amaze people. Maybe strike up a conversation or two.

You either lose fat over your whole body, or you don't lose fat at all. This gives you an overall lean look. Crunches won't ever burn your stomach fat, just like bicep curls won't burn the jiggle in your arms.

The way to GET that flat stomach and those killer arms, is to have your body want to 'shrink the fat cells'. You do this by doing full-body workouts (working every muscle you have)..and eating a little less than what you burn in a day.

First.. go to StraightUpMealplans.com and see how many calories you burn every day. Then subtract around 500 calories from that to lose 1 pound per week. For most women this will be 1400-1800, divided into 6 meals. For guys add 500 calories.

When you eat anything less, you're setting yourself up for plateaus, muscle loss, lack of energy, and overall failure. Also, don't eat low-calorie more than 2 weeks at a time without spiking it up once in a while. If you're anything like me, an awesome body on a woman features a flat stomach, round butt, spanx-free thighs. I'm talking women that look good in real life, not just Instagram. Flat-stomach-Big-Butt-hard-arm-women eat at least 1800. They need to, to feed the muscle.

Eat anything less for a long time and you'll end up like 95% of all American women.. yo-yo'ing between drama on the scale, birdfood diets, and a midsection that just doesn't seem to go away. It happens often that girls lose weight eating low-calorie.. but then they stay low-calorie even after they hit their goal. That's when plateaus happen and flabbiness occurs.

If you're reading this, wanting to lose weight in your problem areas, get on a caloric deficit, eat clean, and train dirty 5x week. When you reach your goal, go back to normal calorie levels.

If you're reading this and you already reached your goal.. I understand it can be scary to go back to eating 'normal'. After all, cutting calories is what got you to lose weight. But you just have to trust me. Xena the Warrior Princess didn't diet. She needed calories to kill the dragons. Go low-calorie to shrink the fat, but stop once you get there, otherwise you'll start looking like Lindsay Lohan, even if you're not Caucasian.

Remember, food determines your body. And those that work hard have little problems. The only way to 'spot reduce' is through lipo. That's a quick fix, and you don't do quick fixes. Oprah does.. and she looks great..

This one time a client of mine brought in Kale Chips to her work, and some of her coworkers started 'making fun of her'. They had no idea what she was eating, and when they found out it was healthy they went all vampire..

Reason I'm telling this story is because it's a perfect example of what WILL happen when you decide to better yourself.

Any time you decide to improve.. to live in higher values.. those around you may not approve. There are many reasons for this. But the most common is that your 'friends' or coworkers see what you're doing.. and want to do the same thing.. but can't bring up the discipline or courage to do so.. thus they start ridiculing you it happens every day. And if you have plans of getting better.. then you will encounter this phenomenon as well.

This phenomenon, or the people who ridicule you, are called 'vampires'. They love sucking the life out of you, and your best bet is to cut them out of your life, BUT.. The worst thing you can do is get upset at them.

The way I see it, people that get upset.. get upset because they don't understand the event they're getting upset about. Really, imagine if you completely understood why vampires are vampires.. would you still get upset about it? Not really. You'd acknowledge their behavior, and stay on track to bettering yourself every day you either get worse or better.. you never stay the same.

People that make things happen.. those that look back at their life at 80 feeling good.. They leave their comfort zone on a daily basis. They understand that 'working right' is better than 'finding the right work'. Once you decide to become one of these guys, you are in the 20% of society. This top 20% doesn't go with the motions like most do. They know that life is designed to give what you deserve so it's up to you in which group you belong. It takes perseverance and killer discipline. But when you stick to improving yourself, your feeling of reward will be unlike anything you've felt before.